Global warming is warming the oceans. Water expands as it warms. So, the seas are rising: around 200mm last century, and accelerating.

This threatens cities, farming land, and infrastructure  – like roads and railways around the world.

One thing threatened sooner than most in Australia, is sports grounds – because they are often in low lying areas already unsuitable for building because of flooding risks.

Sea level rise will make flooding risks worse – potentially turning “one in 100 years” into “every year” or even “at high tide”.

OzCoasts has maps for Sydney impacts of projected sea level rises this century:

• 50cm sea level rise that is probably already locked in
• 80cm that is likely even with some reductions in greenhouse emissions
• and 110 cm that will happen (or even worse) if current trends in emissions continue without strong and urgent climate action to reduce net greenhouse emissions to zero by mid century at latest.

These maps account for tides, but exclude effects like stronger storm surges – which global warming is likely to bring too. Even without storm effects:

• Birchgrove Park starts to experience serious entry of water from the harbour at 80cm sea level rise. With 1.1 sea level rise the ocean reaches across the ground almost to the pitch.

• Jubilee Oval in Glebe experiences almost complete inundation with 1.1 metres sea level rise.

• Callan Park, Lilyfield shows inundation for the fields used for cricket and soccer

Where do local representatives stand on climate action?

•  Federal Members Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese are strong advocates and rock solid supporters for strong climate action.
• Labor’s State Candidate for Balmain, Verity Firth has a great record as a member of a NSW Labor Government which took nation – leading action on energy efficiency and carbon pricing.
• Liberals? Yeah, right. Balmain Liberals probably won’t be inviting Tony Abbott to campaign for them (even if he is still leader by then)! But Mike Baird’s State Liberals have worked to undo climate action, instead of stepping up and taking it further as the news from science keeps getting more urgent. Things like removing support for climate action by local government. Things like trashing energy efficiency programs that save households money and help the environment too.
• The “Greens” political party? Unreliable. Flaky.

The Greens political party voted with the Liberals in Federal Parliament, and against an Emissions Trading Scheme in 2010 – and then later wouldn’t vote with Labor for transition to an Emissions Trading Scheme until it was too late and Tony Abbott was in power.

In State politics, we’ve just seen the Greens political party in Queensland playing childish “just vote 1” games – encouraging supporters to throw away their votes as nothing better than protests, instead of voting like they cared whether Campbell Newman stayed Premier or not, and making their votes actually count to save the Great Barrier Reef.

The environment needs real action, not this sort of nonsense.

Climate change: the time for games is over

Authorised by David Mason, 47 Charles St Marrickville NSW